Ninja’s move to Mixer could be great news for Project Scarlett and Halo Infinite (Image: Microsoft)

With Project Scarlett and the PS5 slowly coming into focus, Ninja’s move to mixer could help Microsoft secure the posterboy it needs to step out from Sony’s shadow.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is one of the most recognisable online personalities in the world of video games. Last week the streaming megastar announced that he would be walking away from Twitch to exclusively stream on Microsoft’s rival broadcasting platform, Mixer.

Ninja’s decision came as a huge surprise to the Twitch community. After all, this is where he rose to fame as the world’s number one streamer, originally joining the service back in 2011.

This landmark shift has nothing to do with Ninja being dissatisfied with Twitch or wanting to explore uncharted waters. Although Mixer has an increasingly robust set of streaming tools (some would argue it’s technically better than Twitch) its active user base is completely dwarfed by that of its Amazon-owned competitor.

The details of Microsoft’s deal with Ninja have not been disclosed to the public though pundits estimate the company may have paid anywhere between $5 million up to $15 million to land the exclusivity contract.

Whichever end of the spectrum that turns out to be, it’s a big spend by Microsoft, which has tried to organically nurture its own Mixer community since the service launched.

According to report, the swap hasn’t impacted Ninja’s viewing numbers with an average of between 60,000 to 100,000 people watching his Fortnite streams from Lollapalooza, having already scooped up half a million subscribers. That number now stands at more than 1.3 million.

Getting Ninja to switch sides isn’t just a signal boost for Mixer, however. The 28 year old managed to ride the battle royale wave with perfect timing, cutting his teeth on H1Z1 before shifting to PUBG and eventually landing on Fortnite.

His likability and skill at the game turned him into a streaming sensation (especially among the Fortnite’s younger audience), catapulting his net worth into the millions in a matter of months.

However, before Fortnite and the birth of the battle royale genre, Ninja was best known as a professional Halo player.

With Microsoft gearing up for the launch of Project Scarlett in 2020, it may be positioning Ninja as one of the next gen system’s poster boys. Not only that but a perfect ambassador for the upcoming Halo Infinite.

The huge presence of streamers, YouTubers, and other influencers is nothing new to the video game industry but we’ve yet to see a move like this: a platform holder locking down one of the internet’s most watched online personalities.

For now this is just speculation. Although the writing is on the wall (it’s not hard to imagine Ninja presenting some kind of Halo Infinite event via his channel) we don’t have any firm details for now.